Screening arrangements are used in the mining and other industries to size and separate desired materials from less desired materials. Certain screening arrangements include modular screening systems which are composed of a plurality of modular and replaceable screening media mounted to a support frame. The screening media includes a plurality of apertures dimensioned to separate the desired material from less desired material.
Screening media can include modular screen panels which are removably mountable to a support frame. The individual screen panels can be constructed of an frame or insert that is encapsulated by a resilient material, such as a polymeric material, such as polyurethane or rubber. The individual screen panels can be mounted to the support frame and subjected to intense vibrations during the screening process. As materials are passed over the surface of the screen panels, desired materials pass through the apertures of the screen panels.
The intense vibrations from the screening process combined with the abrasiveness of the mined materials lead to wear in outer surfaces of the screen panels. Eventually, the wear in the outer surfaces of the screen panels can affect the size of the apertures in the screen panel and allow material of larger size to break through the screen panel so as to contaminate the material intended to pass through the screen panel. This breakthrough and contamination can result in mechanical problems in subsequent process steps, leading to repair costs and down time.
Preventive maintenance in the form of planned or scheduled replacement of screen panels based on past use and replacement statistics can result in premature replacement of screen panels, leading to additional waste and costs. Planned or scheduled replacement also ignores cases of unusual wear. Moreover, the problem of breakthrough can be so severe in certain circumstances that only reasonable guessing or detailed inspection of the screening arrangement when not in use can be applied, neither of which is cost effective.
Thus, a need exists for a system, method, and apparatus that identifies the exact time when a surface of a screen panel has worn to a threshold level where replacement of the screen panel is required.